Little Reminders

On a regular basis, Cullen does something that is too cute for words. He is picking up new words each day, and his  vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. I often think that I want to remember something, but I rarely remember to write it down. Enter the blog. My own way of remembering things later.

Cullen LOVES the Apple song. He knows all the words and sings mostly on beat. His favorite letter seems to be R. The actual lyrics say the word twice and the letter sound three times. Instead of "rabbit," Cullen says "raddit." Instead of just making the letter sound like he does for all of the letters, he says "ERRRR" really loudly like he's growling.

Cullen is also getting really handy with remembering songs I sing to him before bedtime. For some reason, I generally have a Taylor Swift song or an Addison Road song stuck in my head. The only word Cullen knows to "Mean" is the title word, and the only word Cullen knows to "This Little Light of Mine" is "shine." He's really proud that he knows those, and he belts them out when his time comes along.

As you can tell, Cullen likes music. One of his favorite afternoon activities is to turn on the iPod in the master bath and break it down. If he doesn't get to dance, he cries. One day, I will record him dancing. Best moves ever.

Cullen's favorite TV show is Wonder Pets. That is mostly because that is the only show he has ever watched on TV. I was really hoping to keep him away from TV longer, but it just became somewhat unavoidable. The funniest part is that Cullen can't sit through an entire episode, so he's never really exposed to too much. When Cullen wants to watch an episode, he'll walk up to you and say, "Pets? Pets?"

The only episodes Cullen has actually seen are a part of our On Demand TV. Each episode begins with a song and video with a little cartoon moose. Cullen gets SO excited when he hears the song. He runs to the TV and dances while it plays. By the time the actual episode begins, Cullen is usually across the room playing with something else.

Cullen loves food. Like most toddlers, he is picky about what he eats and adamant about certain requirements. He loves "peetzels" (pretzels). I keep a bag of pretzel rods in my glove box for the drive home each day. He also asks for a "nack" on a regular basis. This used to mean that he wanted a fruit snack, but now it means any kind of snack. Don't you dare offer him apple when he is asking for cheese cubes. He will hurt you. This morning, he asking for "cee-ee-al" (cereal). I love how well I can understand his gibberish.

Cullen is absolutely crazy about his daddy. On the drive to and from school each day, Cullen points out big trucks and Daddy trucks. I'm not sure how he knows the difference, but a Daddy truck is always a Tundra. When I pointed out a Ford Ranger the other day, Cullen cried and responded with, "No, BIG truck!" I guess a Ranger isn't a big enough truck to him.

In the mornings, we all leave the house at the same time. When we get to the stop light to leave the neighborhood, I try to pull up next to James. Cullen will wave to James and say, "Bye bye Daddy. Luh loo." (love you) Another morning activity (for Cullen at least) is when Cullen shouts "Mama!" over and over. I was ready to start responding with "What?!?" That just didn't seem right, so I started saying "Cullen!" Now we just go back and forth for the better part of an hour. We're both usually laughing the entire time.

Cullen has become incredibly adept at animal sounds. A few weeks ago, we were practicing while putting together a puzzle. I told Cullen that a pig says oink oink. Cullen corrected me by saying no and making the same noise the little boy makes in "The Christmas Story" when cleaning his plate. He learned that pig noise from his dad.

Cullen's little frog lovey is always there for naps, bedtimes, and drinking milk in the car. From the very beginning, James has referred to the frog as Rupert. Just like Stewie's little bear on Family Guy. Of course, Cullen has picked up on the name but can't manage to say Rupert. He says "Poopert." I laugh.

If Cullen wakes up and is ready to come downstairs, he never fails to let us know. Generally, we don't hear a peep out of him until his shout of, "Mama!" Sometimes he follows that up with "Milk!"

Cullen has a great desire to be a big boy. He wants to be independent. When we go for walks with his wagon, he usually makes it a little way down the block before getting out of the wagon and pulling it himself.

When Cullen plays with his LeapFrog toy that sings the ABCs, Cullen stands in front of the toy and points his finger. When it gets to the "LMNO" part of the alphabet, Cullen usually shouts, "Elmo!"

Cullen has zero volume control. He is loud, and he is proud of it. Most people don't appreciate the volume issue. I love that he has a voice to share.

Being the sweet (sometimes manipulative) little guy that he is, Cullen likes to tug at my heart strings. Initially, he would only tell us he loved us if we told him first. Now, Cullen will tell me, "Mama, I luh loo (love you) much." Makes me want to tear up right here. That little boy is such a blessing.

I'm sure I've forgotten a million other things, but this will have to do for now. If I start doing this more often, it might be a good record for me.

xoxo ashley